Presently, carbon steel is the material of choice for most exterior infrastructure applications because of its superior strength properties and relatively low cost per unit weight. However, frequently, the limitations of steel, which include corrosion and maintenance challenges, excessive weight and high erection costs are being recognized. As an example, in bridge construction it is estimated that within the next 25 years, over 50% of all of the bridges in North America will either require extensive repair or complete replacement due to the lack of sustained infrastructure funding. Most of the major civil engineering and government authorities have expressed their lack of enthusiasm for approaching this problem with traditional steels because of their desire to avoid the same predicament in the future. For this reason, new advanced materials are being sought that can rival the tensile/impact strengths and initial installed cost of steel, while at the same time outperform it in terms of strength to weight, life-span and cost of upkeep.
In other areas, such as in industrial processing equipment markets, where strength to weight is important, replacement of steel with a suitable alternative is desired. For example, large industrial roll cores for pulp and paper dry machines are fabricated from steel. Because of steel's flexibility, a roll made from it must be thick enough to overcome its own dead weight in order to span a certain distance with minimal flex under load. This extreme weight accelerates bearing failure, and results in slow and difficult roll installation and removal. Substitution of the steel with a material having less flex over the same length at a fraction of the weight should provide significant cost advantages in installation and maintenance.
There is, therefore, a need for materials as substitutes for steel in structural environments which provide better strength to weight ratios, easier installation and lower installation and maintenance costs.